In Treatment: Laura-Week One (series premiere)

After watching the premiere of In Treatment, I am only sure of one thing. I do not have the patience to be a therapist.

I was really distracted during the first half of the show because I couldn't figure out why none of my nerd friends told me that Eliza Dushku was on this show. That confusion eventually subsided when I realized that it was Melissa George with brown hair. I guess when you're a cat burglar or a spy you have to be blonde, but when you're troubled young waif, it's best to be brunette.

In all honesty, the show didn't do much to grab my attention. Now, from what I hear, In Treatment is much more of a marathon than a sprint, so I'm willing to give it a chance. As a matter of fact, each episode this week will be reviewed individually, so who knows, maybe by the end of the week, I'll be a huge fan.

I think there's an inherent flaw in a drama about therapy sessions. If they are done realistically, then each patient's problems have to seem extremely important to the patient, when in actuality, they're no worse than anyone else's everyday hang-ups. Then what ends up happening (and it definitely happened to me) is that the viewers simply can't muster up enough interest in the character. Now, again, maybe one of the other patients will talk about something I can relate to. Maybe Blair Underwood's character is a newly divorced, overweight couch potato who has trouble meeting women...or maybe not.

I've always liked Gabriel Byrne. I think he is a master of subtle acting and it serves him well in this role. However, I really wanted to see more about him. What I didn't want to see was yet another story about a patient who is in love with their therapist. Haven't we seen this before? I'm sure it's quite common in real life but I, for one, don't watch HBO because they have shows about everyday people. What's next? A drama about an Italian family living in New Jersey headed by a man who ACTUALLY works for a sanitation company?

I know Michelle Forbes plays Byrne's wife and I'm a big fan of her as well, so it stands to reason that future episodes will have more to do with Byrne and less to do with his uninteresting patients.

i'm surprised at how people (esp americans) rely on their weekly psychiatric meetings attempting to give meaning to their lives. Its always futile.

the root of unhappiness lies in ignorance, of the self, of the world around you, of your circumstances. all this mumbo jumbo is a waste of time and money. Usually the therapists themselves are just as unhappy / confused as the patients, the blind leading the blind.

now before the flames begin, CLINICALLY depressed people definitely do need psychiatric help and medication, for them its more a physical malfunction than anything else.